States With the Most Heart Disease

Heart disease remains by far the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 800,000 deaths a year, or about 1 in 3 deaths. In the United States today, 6.9% of adults have some form of major cardiovascular disease, and of these, about half have suffered a heart attack. The major cardiovascular diseases are heart disease and stroke.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 200,000 deaths from heart disease and stroke each year could be prevented.

Among the leading behavioral risk factors of heart disease are poor exercise, unhealthy eating, and smoking. Conditions that also increase the risk of heart disease include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Across a population, high rates of these factors can have an impact on the incidence of heart disease, and nationwide, some states report higher rates of these factors — and higher incidence of heart disease. In some states, more than one in 10 adults have a serious form of cardiovascular disease, while in others, it is less than half this rate.

To find the states with the highest incidence of heart disease, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The list ranks the states by the share of residents 18 or older that had a major cardiovascular disease in 2015, from the lowest prevalence of heart disease to the highest.